Optical Drive 2018-19 A
The Optical Disk Drive by Drew Hackman The Optical Disk Drive (Optical Disk Drive) is a part of the computer that allows it to read and write DVDs, CDs, and Blu Ray. It contains a laser that is pointed at the disk that is spinning which then reflects off, on to a reader that reads the information that is stored on the disk. The disk is burned and has marks that the ODD picks up and does whatever the disk tells it to do. ODDs are often equipped with a separate laser that is used for burning disks. The information can be burnt onto the disk and later read by any ODD. There are three types of disks that can be used. The first is a read-only memory disk that is used in standard programs and data files. These disks are imprinted on once, leaving physical depressions on it that cannot be erased or rewritten. These are used in the distribution of music and games that do have any use for editing the disk. This disk is made by mass production using a press and a uniform die and is distributed in mass by the companies that produced them. The second form is a write once read many disk that comes blank and the user is able to burn onto it what they would like. Once burned, the disk can be read many times but cannot be rewritten. The third type of disk is a write many read many disk that is shown by magnetization of the disk. Most disks are magnetized “downwards”, representing a 0. The polarization of the disk can be changed, making it a 1 instead of a 0. A magnetic field is directed towards one point and a laser is also directed, heating up that spot. The stop is then changed in polarity and it cools in the same state. To erase the data on the disk, the same process is done but in the opposite effect. To read the disk, the laser is pointed at the disk and because of the different magnetization the direction of the laser shifts. (source 1 , source 2 ) The Optical Disk Drive was developed in the 1960s but was not mainstream at all. In the 1970s and early ’80s, the technology was available to the public but it was not very popular until the mid-’80s. With the popularity of CDs, the ODD gained more popularity and it was more mainstream. In the ‘90s, the addition of DVDs allowed more storage on disks by using a smaller laser which made the storage of information denser. In 2006, the Blu-Ray was introduced which allowed the storage of even more data using a blue laser that made the storage of information even denser than that of the DVD. (source 3 ) The Optical Disk Drive connects to the motherboard. The information given by the disk that has been read is sent to the CPU. Once the CPU processes the information it is given it either sends it to the Video Card if it is a video or to the Sound Card if it is audio. If it is purely data that needs to be stored, it is sent to the CPU and then stored in the